Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas

His Eminence, DMITRI (Royster), Archbishop of Dallas and the South, Exarch of Mexico, was born "Robert Royster" in 1923. As a teenager he lived in Teague, Texas (outside of Dallas), and was faithful to his conservative Baptist upbringing. But he, along with his sister, felt that there must be more to the Christian faith than his protestant denomination was offering. After a period of inquiry and study, the two young teens were received, together, as Orthodox Christians, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Dallas, TX. It was at this point that Robert adopted the name, Dmitri (after Saint Dmitri of Rostov).

Dmitri was drafted into the US Army in March, 1943 where he served as a Japanese interpreter at the rank of Second Lieutenant After his military service, he completed his education and served as an instructor of Spanish at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, later becoming a professor of Spanish at SMU. His Eminence also taught at Tulane University in New Orleans for a brief period.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1954 and elected to the episcopate in 1969. After the death of the ruling bishop of the Albanian Archdiocese in 1975, His Eminence given charge of the Albanian Diocese of the OCA. Later, Bishop DMITRI was charged with the development of the Diocese of the South (which, at the time consisted of several missions).

With approximately 60 parishes and missions under his care (as of 2005), His Eminence shepherds one of the most vibrant diocese of the Orthodox Church in America.